Guard rail



Patented `uly 31, 1934 UNITE-D STATES 'PAT-Enr oFFics 1,968,294 GUARDnlm.

Francie o. Hensel, Youngstown, ohio r'Applioouom November s, 193s,serial No. 696,565 11 claims. (ci. 25e-13.1) i

'The invention relates to guard rails for use along roads or highwaysand more particularly to a guard rail comprising sheet metal strips orpanels mounted upon supporting posts by means of springs. v

An object of the improvement is to provide a guard rail of thischaracter in which the sheet metal strips or panels are connected end toend to each other and to the spring members in such a manner that thepanels are held under tension at all times, means being provided at theconnections for compensating for expansion and contraction of thepanels.

Another object of the improvement is to provide springs of thebellows'or accordion type for e attaching the sheet metal strips orpanels to the supporting posts.

A further object of the improvement is to provide a rigid andsubstantial end anchorage for the improved guard rail. 1

The above objects, together with others which be hereinafter pointed outor which will be ,fobvious from the drawing and the followingdescription, may be attained in the manner illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of one endportion of the improved guard rail embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the portion of the guard rail shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of one supporting post and spring membershowing the adjoining end portions of two sheet metal strips or panels;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation with parts broken away of the portion-of theguard rail shown in Fig. 3: i

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5,Figs. 3 and 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail plan view of the end anchorage;

Fig. 'I is a .front elevation of a portion of the end anchorage;

Figs. 8 and 9 are vlews similar to Fig. 3 showlng modied'forms of theinvention; and

Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail sectional view of a portion of the springshown in Fig. 3 showing the manner in which the same compensates forexpansion and contraction of the panels.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawing.

The improved guard rail is adapted to be sup-- ported along the edge ofthe road or highway by means of supporting posts of any usual and wellknown design preferably spaced 16 feet apart from center to center as inusual practice. Al-

though the supporting posts may be of any shape or construction, squarewooden posts are shown in the drawing' for the purpose of illustration,being indicated generally by the numeral 10.

The spring members, of the form indicated at e0 11, are preferably ofthe construction best shown in Figs. 3 and 10, and may be formed of 1%spring steel, preferably substantially one foot in width or height. Thecentral or rear portion of the spring member, adapted to be locatedtoward the 55' supporting post, is preferably slightly bowed or curvedrearward or toward the post as at 12, a bowed or curved strip 13,preferably of the same material as the spring 11, being located betweenthe same and the post 10 to which the spring 70 member is connected asbythe bolt 14, a slightly curved washer 15 being preferably locatedbetween the head of the bolt and the inside of the spring member, therear end of the bolt extend# ing through the outer or rear side of thepost and being provided with the usual nut 16 and washer 17.

In order to properly center each spring member upon the post and tocompensate -ior any slight variation in the spacing of the posts, alongitudinally disposed slot 18 may be formed in each spring member toreceive the bolt 14.

Each spring member 11 is of the bellows or accordion type, eachcorrugated side portion extending inwardly at an angle as at 19, thenoutwardly at substantially the same angle as at 20 and inwardly again atsubstantially the same angle as at 21 to a point near the center of thespring and then Youtward in a plane substantially horizontal to thefront face of the post 10 as at 22. The radius of each of the curves 23,24, 2 5 and 26 is preferably the same, being in practice substantially aone-half inch radius so as to permit the spring to contract and expandin much the same manner as a bellows or accordion.

The outer end of each leg 22 of the spring is formed into asubstantially circular curved portion 27 preferably of a somewhat largerradius than the curves 23, 24, 25 and 26, the inwardly' offset terminalends of the spring being located 100 toward each other, parallel to thelegs 22 and terminating near the center line of the spring, as indicatedat 28.

The sheet metal strips or panels of the guard rail are preferably formedof 12, 14 or 16 gauge 105 steel substantially 12" in width and 16' inlength, as indicated generally at 29. The ends of each panel are bentupon themselves forming the parallel terminal flange portions 30 upon'the rear sides of the panels.

an outer tie plate 33 is placed over the outer end portions of theadjacent panels 29, a bolt 34- being located through both thicknesses ofeach panel through the inner and outer tie plates and through theiianges 22 and 28 of the spring member 11, a nut being tightened uponthe rear end portion of each bolt to clamp the parts tightly together,as shown in Figs. 3 and 10.

The tie plates 33 are preferably of spring steel and provided at theirends with the curved spring 29 and force the same around the curvedportions 27 of the spring 11 when the panels are expanded. Uponcontraction of thepa'nels ,29,

these curved spring portions 36 of the outer tie plate are sprungoutward as shown in Fig. 10, permitting the panel to straighten out, asindicated at 37, compensating for the contraction thereof.

An end panel 29a, preferably of less length than the panels 29, ispreferably provided at each end of the guard rail and for the purpose ofproviding an end anchorage, two plates preferably of 7 gauge steel, asindicated generally at 38, are connected to the end of the panel 29a asby rivets' 39. The outer ends ofthe plates 38 are offset and spacedapart as at to receive the adjacent ends of the eye-bolts 41 which areattached tothe plates as by rivets, bolts or pins 42 having cotter pins43 located through their end portions to retain the eye-bolts.

The opposite ends of the eye-bolts 41'are located through suitableopenings in the anchor post 44, being located therethrough atsubstantially the angle best shown in Fig.,6, an angular washer and locknuts 46 being provided for placing the desired tension`upon the panels.A 12 gauge metal plate 47 may be provided around the outer and rearsides of 'the anchor post 44, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6.

- In the form of the spring shown in Fig. 8 all of the parts with theexception of the spring itself, indicated at 11a, are of the sameconstruction and indicated by the same numerals as in Figs. 3, 4,V 5,and 10. In this form of the invention, the spring may be formed ofthesame material as above described and the central or rear portionthereof, adapted to be located toward the ,supporting post, is slightlybowed or curved rearward as above described, as indicated at 12a and isattached to the post in the manner described. This spring. is also ofthe bellows or accordion type but the angular portions or legs thereofare of less length than as shown in Fig. 3 and areV indicated at 19a,20a, 21a and 22a with the bends or curves 23a, 24a, 25a and 26a all ofthe same radius.

The outer end of eachLleg 22a` is formed into a substantially circularcurved portion 27a preferably of somewhat larger radius than the curves710 l23a to 26a inclusive, the terminal ends ofAthe spring being locatedtoward each other, parallel to the panels 29 and tothe djacent face ofthe post 10 and terminating ne r the center lineof lthe spring, asindicated at 28a. p

x lThe inner and outer tie plates 32 and 33 reportions 36 arranged tocontact with the panels spectively are the saine as above described andthe .panels 29 are connected to the spring by means of the bolts 34 asabove described, excepting that these bolts do not pass through anyportion of the spring excepting the terminal legs 28a thereof.

In Fig. 9 is shown another modified form of the spring indicatedgenerally at 11b in which the rear central curved portion 12b is thesame as above described and the substantially circular curved portions27h and terminal legs 28h are as shown and described in reference toFig. 8, the spring being attached to the post 10 in the man ner abovedescribed and having two angular portions or legs 19h and 20brlocatedbetween theY curved portions 23h and 27h and extending inward towardLthe center of the spring to Vsubstantially the same distance as thelegs 19 and 20 of Fig. 3 and being joined at this point by the curvedportions 24h. The panels 29 are connected to theA spring 11b in themanner illustrated and described with reference to Fig. 8.

If desired, the terminal leg of the spring, in each form of theinvention, may be bent back upon itself, as shown at 28' in Fig. 10.This pro- 100 f vides for a greater distance between the body portion ofeach panel 29 and the turned-back terminal flange l30 thereof, thuspermitting the fold or bendf to be in the form of a substantial curve asshown at 30', obviating the/possibility of break- 105 ing of the highcarbon spring steel" at this point. Although it is understood that sheetmetal guard rails have been designed and used to a limited extent, allsuch guard rails are provided with substantially cylindric springmembers for con- 113 necting them to the supporting posts and suchVguard rails as are now in use do not include means for eiectivelysecuring the sheet metal panels to the spring and at the same timeproviding for expansion and contraction of the panels. Such 115substantially cylindric springs are easily bent and distorted by impactof vehicles against theguard rail, thus losing their effectiveness,while the bellows or accordion type of spring forming a part ofapplicants improved guard rail, while built so that it will contract orfold under impact or pressure, immediately springs back to its originalposition.

I claim:

1. A road guard including a series of spaced y l supports, accordiontype spring metal connectors xed to one face of the supports and havingcorl'rugated side portions, and a guard rail stretched lapped over theend portions of the spring connectrzs, and tie plates bolted to adjacentends of f the sheet metal strips and connectors.

4. A road guard including a series `of spaced 145.

supports, spring metal connectors xed to one face ofthe supports, aseries of sheet metal strips having their ends bent back upon themselvesand lapped over the end portions of the spring connectors, and inner andouter tie plates bolted to adjacent ends of the sheet metal strips andconnectors.

5. A road guard including a series of spaced supports, spring metalconnectors fixed to one face of the supports, a series of sheet metalstrips having their ends bent back upon themselves and lapped over theend portions of the spring connectors, tie plates bolted to adjacentends of the sheet ,metal strips and connectors, and means upon theconnectors and tie plates for compensating for expansion and contractionof the sheet metal strips.

6. A road guard including a series of spaced supports, bellows typespring metal connectors xed to one face of the supports, the outer faceof each connector including a pair oi substantially round curvedportions terminating in inwardly offset terminal legs disposed towardeach other, a

` series of sheet metal strips having their end portions in contact withsaid terminal legs, and tie plates bolted to said terminal legs and theadjacent end portions of the sheet metal strips and having their ends incontact with the sheet metal strips adjacent to saidvsubstantially roundcurved portions of the connectors.

'7. A road guard including a series of spaced supports, bellows typespring metal connectors flxed to one face of the supports, the outerface of each connector including a pair of substantially round curvedportions terminating in inwardly offset terminal legs disposed towardeach other, a series of sheet metal strips having their end portions incontact with said terminal legs, and tie plates bolted to said terminallegs and the adjacent end portions of the sheet metal strips and havingcurved ends in contact with the sheet metal strips adjacent to saidsubstantially round curved portions of the connectors.

8. A road guard including a series of spaced supports, spring metalconnectors xed to one face of the supports, the outer portion of eachconnector including a pair of legs parallel to the outer face of theadjacent support, and a pair of substantially round curved portionsterminating' in inwardly offset terminal legs disposed toward eachother, a series of sheet metal strips having their end portions incontact with said terminal legs, and tie plates bolted to said parallellegs and terminal legs and the adjacent end portions of the sheet metalstrips and having their ends in contact with the sheet metal stripsadjacent to said substantially "round curved portions of the connectors.

9. A road guard including a series of spaced supports, spring metalconnectors fixed to one face of the supports, the outer portion of eachconnector including a pair of legs parallel to the outer face of theadjacent support, and a pair of substantially round curved portionsterminating in inwardly oset terminal legs disposed toward each other, aseries of sheet metal strips having their end portions in contact withsaid terminal legs, and tie plates bolted to said parallel legs andterminal legs and the adjacent end portions of the sheet metal stripsand having curved ends in contact with the sheet metal strips adjacentto said substantially round curved portions of the connectors.

10. A road guard including a series of spaced I supports, spring metalconnectors fixed to one face of the supports, the outer face of eachconnector terminating in terminal legs disposed toward each other andhaving their ends bent back upon themselves, a series of sheet metalstrips having their ends bent back andlocated around said terminal legs,and tie plates bolted to said terminal legs and the bent-back endsthereof and to said metal strips and the bent-back ends thereof. y

11. A road guard including a series of spaced supports, spring metalconnectors xed to one face of the supports, inwardly offset terminallegs disposed toward each other and carried by each connector, a seriesof sheet metal strips having their end portions bent back uponthemselves and lapped over said terminal legs, and tie plates, bolted toadjacent ends of the sheet metal strips and to the connectors.

FRANCIS O. HELTZEL.

